CONTACT:

Helen Wilkie

651-260-2420

Helenwilkie@comcast.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

April 23, 2010

Bois Forte Heritage Center Welcomes Collection of Documents from the Late Local Land Expert J. William John Trygg

When J. William John Trygg passed away in 1971, the Ely-based forester and land appraiser left a fitting gift:  a valuable collection of paper documents made from trees, the source of his passion. 

Trygg, who also served in the Minnesota House of Representatives, surveyed northeastern Minnesota forests from the 1920s through the 1960s. During those decades, he created an exhaustive record of his own work, and he also studied tens of thousands of pages of field notes and maps left by 19th century land surveyors.

Trygg’s meticulous research made him into more of an expert than the experts employed by the federal government. His preeminence was demonstrated during the early 1960s, when he was called upon to substantiate claims made by Indian tribes that they had not been fairly paid for lands they had ceded to the U.S. during the 1800s. Thanks to the work of Trygg and others, the federal government did provide more compensation to the Indians for their lands.

That might have been the end of the story, but fortunately Trygg’s family cared for his vast archive of papers as well as he had. After the death of Trygg’s wife, Margaret, in 1978, copies were donated to the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul. And on April 23, Trygg’s daughter-in-law Louise presented copies to the Bois Forte Heritage Center & Cultural Museum on the ground of Fortune Bay Resort Casino on Lake Vermilion.

“We are really pleased with this generous gift,” said Heritage Center Executive Director Rose Berens, who also serves as the Band’s Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. “Our mission is to retrieve objects that belonged to the Bois Forte Band or are helpful in reconstructing the area’s history, so that we may tell the story of the Bois Forte people and this region as fully as possible.”

“We felt it was important to have this material in northern Minnesota, where it would be easily accessible for anyone interested in doing research in this area,” said Louise Trygg.

“Several boxes of files have also been donated to the Ely-Winton Historical Society where J. William and Margaret both served as Board Members. We have quite a Trygg collection,” according to Board member Mary Levander.

Already Band member J. Kay Davis, a local historian, has begun organizing and archiving the papers. Davis, who was instrumental in connecting the Trygg family and the Heritage Center, said the papers contain valuable insights about railroads and mining as well as lumbering.

“On behalf of the Bois Forte Band – both those of us alive today, and those of us who will come after – I want to express our gratitude for this gift that helps us better understand our history and ourselves,” said Tribal Council member Cathy Chavers.